Indian Pilau Rice
Ingredients
1 ¼ cups Basmati Rice
15ml oil (I use Peanut oil)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon Fennel seeds
1 tablespoon of Sesame seeds.
½ teaspoon ground Turmeric
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
2 whole Cloves
4 Cardamom pods, lightly crushed
5 black peppercorns, left whole
500ml container of Chicken stock or consommé (or vegetable stock to make it truly vegetarian)
Fresh coriander to garnish
Wash rice well and leave to soak in water for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a heavy based saucepan, add onion and garlic and fry gently for 5-6 minutes until softened, not browned.
Stir in the fennel, sesame seeds, turmeric, cumin, salt, cloves, cardamom pods and peppercorns and fry for about a minute. Drain the rice well, add to pan and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes.
Pour over the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then cover, reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently for 20 minutes without removing the lid, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and leave to stand 2-3 minutes. Fork up the rice, garnish with coriander and transfer to a warmed dish to serve.
This one is for Liz and anyone else who would like a nice side dish to a spicy chicken or fish (or whatever really :D) dish or just as a nice vegetarian supper on it’s own. Turn the heat off as soon as 20 minutes is reached and let it sit off the heat for a few minutes. The sesame seeds can sometimes stick if left too long cooking.
Bon appetit!
cathyandchucky 
I bake my pilau rices in the oven now. You don’t have to worry too much about moisture loss as I cover mine with a lid or with foil (if I am making lots) and this pilau looks delish. The weather here at the moment is treacherous…can’t believe we are through our first month of spring because it has been more wintery than the whole of winter was! Can’t get out into the garden and even if we could it is a quagmire with running springs through it. Our driveway is still digging twin grooves to China and no point trying to fix it yet with more heavy rain forcaste and flooding happening up river. I WISH I had the money to buy a huge water tank! (Then I could catch my own frogs 😉 ). Love this rice 🙂
Woke up this morning to grey skies and light rain 😦 Global warming BAH! Ah well, I’ll be carrying on about it being too hot in another month or two 😀 The rice cooks really well on top of the stove too Fronkiii as long as it’s on the lowest possible heat once its boiled and you don’t feel tempted to lift that lid. Must stop the cooking at 20 minutes, then fork it up (into ones mouth 😀 )
Lots of “forking” goes on whenever I cook and that’s why I try to make WAY too much in the first place as otherwise I don’t end up with enough ;).
A woman after my own heart 😀
I can’t pin this recipe because for some reason you didn’t post a pickie?
Ah, I will post a picture when I make it next Fronkiii as I was just posting the recipe for Liz to try out. I follow a recipe from The New Indian Cooking Course book/magazine i’ve had for years and I’ve never found another that I find as easy.
Cheers for sharing :). We are currently being blown off the side of the slope and will probably end up in the Tamar after the gale that we are enduring. Not content to wash us away, nature is hell bent on providing us with next years firewood by blowing over all of the large black wattles on the property…we are hoping that the big euc next to the house holds onto it’s limbs as otherwise it will end up on the roof! EEK!
Ooh take care Fronkiii. I guess there is a payoff in the wood supply. What sort of trees will be best to hold onto the slippery slopes that you can plant to support the slope? Maybe some more terracing up the back might help? Rice Paddies anyone?
We have planted out almost all of our Brachychitons (native Aussie bottle trees) and figure that global warming will make Tassie the new Victoria soon so we may as well plant for the eventualities! 😉
This looks like a great recipe to keep for those days when you are needing an interesting side.
It sure is a tasty side dish. Soothing when paired with a spicy curry or chilli 😀 It’s actually very nice left to chill a little as a nice rice salad dish as well.
I love pilau rice. It always tastes so good and refreshing. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Yum, maybe I can get Chef Allan to make this!
It is very easy, peasy 😀 and only 20 minutes to make once you get going.